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Mathew Block

@mathewablock

Jul 30, 2020

Finished reading Fitzgerald's translation of the Aeneid yesterday evening. Absolutely wonderful. But I can't help contrasting the Trojans' battle for their Italian promised land with that of the Israelites.

In Greco-Roman religion, following even the revealed will of the gods was no guarantee of success because what one god willed a greater might oppose. So Hera stirs up the Latins & Rutulians against Aeneas, but she is opposed by Jove, who has promised Italy to the Trojan remnant.

The Italian forces (and Trojans for that matter) suffer great losses as a result—griefs brought on because the Italians follow the will of Hera. But Hera cares little for these griefs; she merely wishes to punish Trojans.

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Mathew Block

@mathewablock

Jul 8, 2020

An important letter from Margaret Atwood, Noam Chomsky, Michael Ignatieff, J.K. Rowling, Salman Rushdie, and many others on the left about the rising tide of illiberalism and cancel-culture in contemporary society.

harpers.org/a-letter-on-ju…

"It is now all too common to hear calls for swift and severe retribution in response to perceived transgressions of speech and thought."

"Whatever the arguments around each particular incident, the result has been to steadily narrow the boundaries of what can be said without the threat of reprisal."

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Mathew Block

@mathewablock

Jun 11, 2020

Some good thoughts from Gilbert Meilander on what he calls the "ecumenism of time."

"Many questions are never really 'answered' in a way that makes continued reflection on them unprofitable or pointless..."

"Much of what we learn about human nature and human life comes from gradually working our way into a tradition of thought and learning from predecessors within it, especially those who are acknowledged masters.

In many other areas of human endeavour—hitting a baseball, playing jazz, diagnosing a patient—we obviously learn by imitating others whose excellence we can see. We are not always ready to grant that this is also true of, say, learning to think as a Christian about the moral life

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Mathew Block

@mathewablock

May 12, 2020

“Although the theme of the restless heart provides no apologetic argument by which Christians can persuade others to believe, it does shape an anticipation and suggest an invitation...

It anticipates an unfulfilled longing for rest, and it invites one to turn, as Augustine eventually did, to “the food that is incorruptible” (Conf. 3.1)....

Christians affirm that the God who cannot be found apart from the Word made flesh does not come as a stranger in that incarnate Word. He comes to “his own” (John 1:11), to those whose longing for the happy life must, if it is to be satisfied, look to him...

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Mathew Block

@mathewablock

Apr 21, 2020

Last night I dreamt I was at a banquet where the main speaker’s talk was devoted to tearing down an article I had written on Hieronymus Bosch. This came as a great surprise to dream-me, as I had no inkling such an attack was coming.

Partway through his lecture, the guest speaker directly asked me to defend my work. But dream-me couldn’t even remember what I’d written in the article, which made the whole situation all the more stressful.

To be fair, waking-me knows very little about Bosch either. (To be clear, I’ve never actually written on Bosch before; that was just part of the dream.)

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Mathew Block

@mathewablock

Mar 31, 2020

On this day in 1631 John Donne entered into glory. Though dead, he still preaches the Gospel to those who will hear. His poetry in particular has been a consolation to me for many years (in the pictures below is my facsimile edition of the 1633 edition of his poems).

In his final sermon, Donne counselled his listeners to remember that "unto God the Lord belong the issues of death" (Ps. 68:20). To that end, he concludes by commending his listeners to the mercies of Christ, in whom we find our final deliverance:

"We leave you in that blessed dependency, to hang upon him that hangs upon the cross, there bathe in his tears, there suck at his wounds, and lie down in peace in his grave, till he vouchsafe you a resurrection,...

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